Sushi has almost become part of our daily food list when we go out to eat or even shop at the mall. Just 25 years ago, they were nowhere to be seen or heard from, except in Japan, of course, where they hail from. Now we can also find them everywhere at an affordable price. People have become accustomed to the taste of wonderful Japanese cuisine and its seasonings.
This brings us to the subject of this article, which is Wasabi, also known as the “Japanese horseradish”. The Japanese love this seasoning and use it a lot with their meals in much the same way the French use their mustard, except wasabi is about 10 times stronger than the strongest French mustard.
On the other hand, in recent years we have also become accustomed to accommodating chocolate with many types of condiments or spices such as cinnamon, chili, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, etc. That is why I have tried to venture a little further and add a bit of wasabi to my favorite chocolate ganache filling. The result was quite interesting, the wasabi had such a strong flavor that I wasn’t ready to oppose another strong flavor like the bitter taste of dark chocolate, that’s why in my recipe I have chosen to use white chocolate to let the taste of wasabi win . good. Needless to say, if you don’t like wasabi, you better stay away from it, this is the kind of praline we love or hate, there can be no compromise.
For this recipe we can use wasabi paste or if you can’t find it you can also use wasabi powder and make the paste yourself. In this case, mix 14g of wasabi powder with 36g of drinking water at room temperature. Mix well until smooth with a spoon or spatula and here you have your 50g of fresh wasabi paste.
Then prepare some white chocolate shells; I usually use polycarbonate molds in the shape of a half sphere that I smear with my fingers with a bit of melted and warm cocoa butter, colored with a bit of green PCB powder, to give that kind of marbled effect. Keep the shells in the molds and in a cool place.
Next, prepare the wasabi chocolate ganache filling with:
Fresh cream: 100g
Glucose: 33g
Wasabi paste: 50g
Butter: 50g
White chocolate coverage: 233g
As for a normal ganache, boil the crème fraîche and glucose together. Mix the wasabi paste. Add the chopped butter and mix until melted with a spoon or spatula (not a whisk). Next, pour over the very finely chopped white couverture and let stand for 2 or 3 minutes before mixing very slowly, until completely homogeneous, always using a spatula to prevent air from entering the filling. Allow filling to cool below 82°F (28°C) before filling molds.
When the filling has cooled, fill the chocolate shell (still in the moulds) individually using a piping bag, making sure each shell is filled to the top and not too full. Then place the molds in a warm dry refrigerator or cooler, set at around 50°F (10°C) to allow the filling to set.
When the filling has completely set, spread the top of the molds with a little tempered white chocolate couverture to close each praline well, scraping off the excess couverture with the spatula. Put the molds back in the cooler for about 10 minutes. Then the wasabi praline should be ready to unmold and… taste of course.
I really hope you enjoyed this recipe.